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The leading provider of global news, comment and analysis for the telecommunications industryTue, 26 Sep 2017 16:34:30 +0000en-GBhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1Samsung revs up its autonomous driving effortshttp://telecoms.com/484712/samsung-revs-up-its-autonomous-driving-efforts/
http://telecoms.com/484712/samsung-revs-up-its-autonomous-driving-efforts/#commentsThu, 14 Sep 2017 15:48:45 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484712Samsung Electronics has announced a new $300 million investment fund dedicated to the automotive industry as well as a strategic partnership with TTTech.

This move echoes a similar one from Ericsson last week and seems to be part of a broader push by technology companies to grab as big a piece as possible of the nascent smart/connected/autonomous vehicle market.

Samsung, of course, dropped $8 billion less than a year ago on Harman, which has a big in-car infotainment business. Against that $300 million is a relative drop in the ocean, but this is more of a VC play, presumably with the aim of owning future autonomous car players at a relative discount.

In fact Samsung and Harman have jointly launched (not sure how that works) a new Autonomous/ADAS strategic initiative, which seems to take the form of a new business unit. On top of that Samsung has started a strategic partnership with German company TTTech, which is apparently big in robust networking and safety controls, especially in an IoT-ish way.

“During this period of extraordinary transformation in the automotive industry, we are excited to play a leadership role in supporting and shaping the future of smarter, more connected vehicles,” said Young Sohn, President and CSO of Samsung Electronics and Chairman of Harman. “The Autonomous/ADAS strategic business unit and automotive fund reflect the company’s commitment to the values of open innovation and collaboration. In partnership with OEMs and startups, we will make the driver and passenger experience safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable.”

“There is already a high demand for ADAS solutions, and that demand is rapidly growing with the advancements in connected cars and autonomous driving,” said Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of Harman. “This strategic business unit demonstrates Samsung’s and Harman’s commitment to answer that call – to be the definitive partner for seamless and integrated technologies.”

The TTTech partnership is also the first investment of the new fund, which seems a needlessly circuitous way of going about things. Among TT’s other investors is Audi. “We are very proud to have Samsung as an investor and partner in TTTech to create solutions for the next generation of highly integrated and data-intensive safety systems” said Georg Kopetz, Member of the Board at TTTech. “Samsung brings a breadth and a depth of technologies as well as an ecosystem of partners to accelerate development for level 2 to level 5 autonomous platforms.”

There’s a lot of speculative cash flowing from the tech sector into automotive these days. Pretty much all the semiconductor players seem to see it as a major source of future and the networking players seem to feel the same. But the automotive sector tends to move a fair bit slower than core tech, so they will need to be patient when it comes to ROI.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484712/samsung-revs-up-its-autonomous-driving-efforts/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/09/autonomous-connected-car.jpgSamsung tries to crash the iPhone X partyhttp://telecoms.com/484672/samsung-tries-to-crash-the-iphone-x-party/
http://telecoms.com/484672/samsung-tries-to-crash-the-iphone-x-party/#commentsWed, 13 Sep 2017 16:43:14 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484672On the day of Apple’s big smartphone event Samsung managed to get a bit of coverage of its own, which is no small feat.

Samsung can only dream of having every aspect of its product launches exhaustively covered in the way Apple’s are. Gadget sites typically manage 20+ stories from a single launch event as covetous consumers crave every tiny morsel of detail about the new shiny things. Samsung events get a fair bit of coverage but nowhere near as breathless and detailed.

The tech world is still working out what it thinks about the new Apple launches, and you can read our perspective here. But Samsung seems to have decided to try to remind everyone that Apple isn’t the only company that can innovate.

The Associated Press reported on a Samsung press event at which Koh Dong-jin, president of the mobile business at Samsung Electronics, said his company might launch a bendable phone next year. He immediately hedged his position by saying there are still some technical details to be ironed out, inferring that if they are not resolved then the launch won’t happen.

This seems like a classic piece of counter PR. Samsung has been playing around with flexible screens for years and, since there is still no hard date commitment, it could have made this announcement at any time.

The main premise of the event, it seems, was to announce the Galaxy Note 8 to the Korean market and Samsung sought to pour further water on Apple fever by going on about how well the Note 8 is doing. This is in many ways Samsung’s equivalent of the iPhone X and, it should be noted, isn’t a whole lot cheaper.

The big news, as also reported by the FT, is that demand for the Note 8 is exceeding expectations. You could be forgiven for observing that expectations might have been on the low side when you consider that its predecessor had a tendency to spontaneously combust, which had a somewhat detrimental effect on demand.

In fact Samsung showed some corporate balls in sticking with the Note brand at all, so tarnished was it 11 months ago, but it seems gadget-lovers’ memories are short and all has been forgiven. Having said that the devices won’t find their way into the wild until the end of this week and Samsung execs must be crossing everything that none of them go up in smoke.

But this isn’t about surpassing meagre expectations. The first five days of pre-orders for the Note 8 have apparently registered 2.5-times the sales volume of the Note 7. The message from Samsung is clear: bring it on Apple.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484672/samsung-tries-to-crash-the-iphone-x-party/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/Samsung-7.pngSamsung and KDDI break 5G speed recordhttp://telecoms.com/484521/samsung-and-kddi-break-5g-speed-record/
http://telecoms.com/484521/samsung-and-kddi-break-5g-speed-record/#commentsThu, 07 Sep 2017 12:07:20 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484521On the day the latest issue of the Guinness Book of Records is released, one of the most obscure is broken in Korea.

The 5G speed record in this case is not data throughput but the ability of 5G to work with a fast-moving vehicle. Samsung and Japanese telco KDDI conducted a demo at Everland Speedway in South Korea in which a vehicle accelerated from 0 to 205 km/h and they still managed to zap it with lovely, high capacity mmWaves, apparently for the first time. They even managed to hand over between base stations and everything.

“It is becoming increasingly important that we accelerate our focus on 5G’s ability to meet a growing number of performance metrics,” said Woojune Kim, Head of Next Generation Strategy at Samsung’s Networks Business. “Until now, peak bandwidth has been the common refrain, and certainly a big component of the future of 5G. However, the test we conducted with KDDI will help us build a more diverse portfolio of future 5G use cases.”

“The trial successfully showcased stable performance under high-speed mobility conditions which will dramatically increase the service experience of users in vehicles,” said Akira Matsunaga, Senior Director of Mobile Network Technical Development at KDDI. “We will continue our joint efforts with Samsung to test next generation technology to unprecedented levels and discover new service cases.”

The reason all this is a big deal, we’re told, is the potential offered by new and highly specialised service scenarios enabled by 5G. In this case we’re looking at connected cars, of course, but also public transport in smart cities and presumably things like drones. If you don’t believe they broke the record then here’s a vid that proves it.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484521/samsung-and-kddi-break-5g-speed-record/feed/1http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/09/Samsung-KDDI-5G-test.jpgIFA 2017 is more connected than everhttp://telecoms.com/484352/ifa-2017-is-more-connected-than-ever/
http://telecoms.com/484352/ifa-2017-is-more-connected-than-ever/#commentsThu, 31 Aug 2017 11:46:19 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484352The world’s second biggest consumer electronics show is increasingly all about connected devices as IoT becomes endemic.

IFA has always been a strange event to report on, with sexy smartphones sitting incongruously alongside washing machines and other frumpy domestic appliances. But with the irresistible ubiquity of connectivity those two words are increasingly colliding in a more substantial way. IFA technically opens tomorrow, but just as with MWC most of the juicy stuff comes out early.

Samsung

As probably the world’s biggest consumer electronics company Samsung usually steals the show, but the big launch of the definitely-not-explosive-in-any-way-honest Galaxy Note 8 happened a week ago. Instead Samsung focused on wearables – specifically the kind of fitness-focused smartwatch that seems to be all the rage these days.

Gear Sport is the main offering in this category. Samsung has wisely gone for a circular form factor for this smartwatch and, apart from that and the usual suite of sensors and software designed to cater to the fitness obsessive’s every need, the emphasis is on ruggedization, including 50m water resistance.

The same applies to the more stripped-down Gear Fit2, which Samsung calls an ‘advanced GPS fitness band’. Both products have partnered with iconic pose-pouch swim brand Speedo to support its swim-tracking platform Speedo On, ensuring you can now humble-brag on social media about your trip to the pool too. Lastly there are some Bluetooth ear buds called Gear IconX. Watch the video below to get a sense of just how much of a better person you will be if you buy all this new Samsung stuff.

Smartphones

IFA tends to be where phablets are launched, and in the absence of the Note 8 the biggest news seems to be in the form of LG’s V30 6-inch flagship smartphone. The emphasis seems to be on video capture and playback. Claiming the first F1.6 aperture camera lens, the first glass Crystal Clear Lens, the first OLED FullVision display and Cine Video mode for producing movie-quality videos.

The phone, which also features some co-branding with premium audio brand B&O, seem to be well received and compared favourably to LG’s previous flagship effort. LG, of course, is also a huge CE brand so it has launched a bunch of other stuff, much of which will offer connectivity in the off chance we ever solve the smart fridge puzzle. Oh, and it looks like Sony and Huawei are among the other major brands to whack out new smartphones at the show.

Smart assistants

One possible step forward for the connected home may be the current trend for devices to feature in-built support for smart assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. LG went big on this and seems optimistic that, while we’re still not prepared to delegate the weekly shop to the fridge, we may be happy to talk to it.

“The development of voice recognition technology plays an crucial role in advancing our own IoT and smart technologies,” said Song Dae-hyun, President of LG’s home appliance bit. “By adhering to LG’s Open Platform philosophy, we’re able to deliver a diverse range of benefits and services for our customers that is unrivaled in the industry. By strengthening our relationships with Google, Amazon and other players in this space, we’re making amazing headway in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Plenty of other devices have been launched that support either or both of these platforms and that trend is likely to continue at CES next January. Apple’s Siri is notably absent from most of these announcements and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how Apple’s closed approach to these things can thrive in the very heterogeneous home appliance environment. Even Microsoft seems to have got the memo.

Mixed reality

Microsoft is offering a different take on virtual reality in the form of ‘mixed reality’. In theory this was expected to be a mix of VR and augmented reality – superimposing digital images on the real world – with some external motion-tracking tech thrown in for good measure.

Microsoft has been banging on about this for a while, and the price points are quite aggressive, but initial, appropriately mixed, reviews indicate it’s struggling to justify the hype. Nonetheless Asus and Dell have launched mixed reality products at the show as part of a general Microsoft love-in incorporating new PCs, etc.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484352/ifa-2017-is-more-connected-than-ever/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/LG-smart-home.jpgSamsung takes a lesson from Apple in stroking the Note-devoteeshttp://telecoms.com/484210/samsung-takes-a-lesson-from-apple-in-stroking-the-note-devotees/
http://telecoms.com/484210/samsung-takes-a-lesson-from-apple-in-stroking-the-note-devotees/#commentsWed, 23 Aug 2017 16:50:38 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484210Samsung has launched the latest edition of the Note brand, with a backdrop which looks and sounds quite familiar. Perhaps Samsung execs have been taking a few notes watching Apple launches of yesteryear.

In fairness, it does look like a good phone. It is pretty slick, has all the latest tech and a couple of useful features which will probably make life a bit easier. But ultimately, it is the launch of a new smartphone. We’ve seen them before, and aside from a couple of quirky additions, it isn’t much different from anything else on the market. Just more powerful, faster and shinier. Nothing really that new.

The one thing which struck Telecoms.com during the launch event was the idea of cultivation. It would appear the team has realized there is little differentiation between various handsets, aside from the brand itself. Even software seems to becoming remarkably repetitive, so there has to be another way of thinking developed. Another explanation would be it doesn’t have to shout about features anymore. It has the customer base, now its about making sure they don’t go anywhere, but at the same time, spend more money.

“I will never forget about what happened last year,” said DJ Koh, Samsung’s mobile Chief. “But I will never forget about the loyal fans who stuck with us. We are here today because of your support. I am humbled by your loyalty and your feedback.”

Every company will try and cultivate an audience and loyal following, but few have done it as successfully as Apple. We occasionally joke about an army of iLifers who would follow a floating iPhone off the edge of a cliff, but this is partly because Apple has done an incredible job in cultivating this customer base, developing a brand alliance which has stood the test of time. It’s a cultish following which sees the iPhone, as well as the wider iEcosystem as a life necessity.

Think about the removal of the headphone jack. This essentially told the iLifers they wouldn’t be able to purchase another brand of headphones. Any other device manufacturer which did this would have been cast aside, but not Apple. There were some rumblings of discontent, but let’s be honest, nothing above a murmur. This level of loyalty is the subject of envy from everyone else. The dedicated iLifers upgrade their phone at every opportunity; what device manufacturer wouldn’t want this type of customer.

Samsung seem to be doing the same. It payed homage to the Note-devotees who stuck with the brand following last year’s firestorm. Some might say this was a brave move, but from our perspective, it was a topic which just couldn’t be ignored; the team didn’t have a choice. Better to work it into the narrative than try to brush it under the table.

“Samsung is quite confident at the moment,” said Ben Wood of CCS Insight. “Both Apple and Samsung are in strong positions, with big customer bases, leaving only crumbs for the other devices manufacturers to pick up.

“This position allows Samsung to develop an emotional connection with the user, not just shouting about the new features. This is where they missed out against Apple, which has been nurturing this audience for some time. They are saying this is a device which you can be proud of.”

The product is designed for those who are multi-taskers, apparently. Those who are out and about, being individuals, and sharing their lives online. The camera is certainly designed for this, as are some of the features including Dex. Justin Denison, Samsung’s SVP of Product Strategy, summed this idea up quite well when he said “you aren’t dreamers, you are doers. And the Samsung Note 8 is all about doing”.

It would appear Samsung is chasing after the individualist, non-conformers, who are so ironically displaying their narcissistic tendencies all over social media. Other brands are too mainstream now, Samsung is saying, but look at the quirky pictures you can create, or personalised messages you can send (using the S-pen to personalise with your own hand-writing), and the glorious pictures which you can take with our Dual-camera. This is an extension of your personality, Samsung is whispering to these individuals.

When you look at the actual features of the new devices, you can see why branding is becoming so important. It has a big screen. Excellent technology for high-definition videos. A dual-camera. It’s water resistant. Voice user interface. A virtual assistant. Biometric security. Camera quick launch. Voice activated short-cuts. Low light camera features. None of these are particularly new. Going back to the brand advertising strategies of years gone by, playing on emotion and the self-indulgent, personal-reflection tendencies of the consumer, is probably a good idea.

This is of course only our opinion from having watched the launch, and of course, it isn’t a bad idea. Apple has made billions, dominated the industry and stood the test of time after creating its own army of iLifers. Samsung seemed to have picked up on the idea that differentiation isn’t going to work. Chasing customers is too difficult, but holding onto our own ones through creating a brand identity which speaks to the masses of individuals could work. It’s generic brand advertising at its finest.

Whether it works is another matter, but Samsung certainly has the advertising spend to throw around. It will be expensive and possibly a complete failure, but it is the only way to get differentiation nowadays.

Welcome to the world Note-devotees.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484210/samsung-takes-a-lesson-from-apple-in-stroking-the-note-devotees/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/Samsung-4.pngSamsung reckons its cracked Natural Language Processinghttp://telecoms.com/484178/samsung-reckons-its-cracked-natural-language-processing/
http://telecoms.com/484178/samsung-reckons-its-cracked-natural-language-processing/#commentsTue, 22 Aug 2017 10:07:36 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484178Samsung has had a bit of a humble-brag, subtly announcing its virtual assistant, Bixby, is now available in more than 200 countries, while also nailing Natural Language Processing (NLP).

It’s the frustration most users would have experienced when using any voice-activated application; the interaction does not seem fluid. This will probably be the reason most do not use their virtual assistant’s (it is for your correspondent), as you have to use specific phrases or combinations of worlds, as opposed to everyday language. It takes away the convenience of having a virtual assistant if you have to ask the same question several times.

This is where NLP comes into play. The assistant will understand common language, slang or abbreviations, meaning it is a more natural conversation. It’s a very important area of artificial intelligence, but is often forgotten as machine learning claims all the applause.

“Now millions of customers worldwide have access to a new and intelligent way of interacting with their phone,” said Injong Rhee, Head of R&D for Software and Services of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

“The expansion of Bixby’s voice capabilities is an initial step in the continued rollout of Bixby functionality. In the future, Bixby will have the learning power to offer more intelligent and personalized interactions and seamless connections across more devices.”

Using the example Samsung has given us, the assistant will understand the command ‘send the picture just taken to Mom’. Firstly, it will understand the context of ‘picture just taken’ and then also the second component of the sentence, therefore sending the image to the individuals mother.

Of course, we are just taking Samsung’s word for it currently. There have been plenty of bold claims to date over progress in the NLP world, but few have lived up to the promise. Should it prove to be true however, this could certainly be a major victory for Samsung. The team was late to the virtual assistant game and has been playing catch up ever since. Such a breakthrough would put Bixby on a more level pegging.

What is a nice little touch which the other virtual assistants haven’t been shouting about recently is the linking features. Samsung has said you can do multiple functions with one command. For instance, activating two features of the same application (Call Mom and turn on the speakerphone), or even linking into your GPS settings (Remind me to buy milk at the store), and even more complex tasks (Find all of my photos from Dallas, tag them Vacation, and add them to a photo album). It’s a nice little addition which could be useful, assuming it works well of course.

Software is the new battle ground for handset manufacturers in the smartphone war. For hardware, there is not much you can actually do to differentiate the device from other manufacturers, and no-one has managed to emulate Apple’s cultivation of an army of sleepwalking iLifers just yet. Enhancing the user experience, created unique features in the software and more competent interactions with both the user and the environment are ways in which this differentiation can be achieved.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484178/samsung-reckons-its-cracked-natural-language-processing/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/08/Samsung.pngGalaxy S8 tops Android smartphone charts but still lags Apple iPhone 7http://telecoms.com/484108/galaxy-s8-tops-android-smartphone-charts-but-still-lags-apple-iphone-7/
http://telecoms.com/484108/galaxy-s8-tops-android-smartphone-charts-but-still-lags-apple-iphone-7/#commentsWed, 16 Aug 2017 16:52:32 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=484108The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics indicate the Samsung Galaxy S8 has been a success, but not as much as the iPhone 7.

The Galaxy S8 shipped 10.2 million units in Q2 2017, while the S8+ managed an additional nine million. Even that good effort was nowhere near enough to get close to Apple, which only makes two flagship products, moved 16.9 million iPhone 7s in the quarter and 15.1 million iPhone 7+. The five most popular models accounted for a sixth of all smartphone shipments in the quarter.

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has instantly become the world’s most popular Android smartphone model, due to its attractive curved-screen design, a rich portfolio of software apps, and best-in-class retail distribution across dozens of countries,” said Neil Mawston of SA.

Rounding out the top 5 was the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, illustrating what a remarkable return to form the Chinese vendor has experienced, thanks largely to a strong move on the Indian market. “Xiaomi is now the fourth largest smartphone vendor in China and the second biggest across India,” said Linda Sui of SA. “Xiaomi is selling a large volume of smartphones through online channels, with key distribution partners such as Flipkart and JD.”

Our smartphone tracker below shows quite what a jump Xiaomi has made in just one quarter.

]]>http://telecoms.com/484108/galaxy-s8-tops-android-smartphone-charts-but-still-lags-apple-iphone-7/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-unbox.jpgSmartphone growth on the up but only good news for Chinese vendorshttp://telecoms.com/483813/smartphone-growth-on-the-up-but-only-good-news-for-chinese-vendors/
http://telecoms.com/483813/smartphone-growth-on-the-up-but-only-good-news-for-chinese-vendors/#commentsThu, 03 Aug 2017 09:50:05 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483813New estimates have pinned global smartphone growth at 4% year-on-year for the second quarter, but it is the Chinese vendors who are seeing the benefits.

In total, more than 340 million smartphones were shipped across the quarter, with Samsung remaining top of the leaderboard, according to research from Canalys. Growth was relatively flat, but stood firm at 79 million units, while Apple managed to increase shipments by 2% to 41 million iPhones. While iPhone numbers are relatively modest, a launch over the next couple of months could see momentum grow into the profitable final quarter of the year.

“The smartphone market continued to grow in Q2, despite India and China both slipping into decline,” said Research Analyst Vincent Thielke. “Smartphone shipments to North America increased around 7% year on year, with Apple growing 10%. Apple outperformed Samsung despite the launch of the Galaxy S8, and growing anticipation for the next iPhone.”

These are relatively positive performances for the top two, but the success stories here are pouring out of China. Worldwide shipments of 38 million units, saw growth of 20% for Huawei, while Oppo and Xiaomi were the top performers in fourth and fifth spot, growing shipments 44% and 52% respectively.

Huawei is not far away from taking the number two spot from Apple, and while momentum is with the Chinese firm, don’t underestimate the power of the next iPhone. iCultists have proved themselves to be determined in sucking up the hype and euphoria surrounding a flagship launch. During the earnings call, Apple upped its revenue outlook for the next quarter, suggesting the flagship could be launched in September. These numbers are positive for Huawei, but the iSleepwalkers could make it a false-dawn.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483813/smartphone-growth-on-the-up-but-only-good-news-for-chinese-vendors/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/smartphone-device-confusion.jpgSamsung shows how big it IoT aaS ishttp://telecoms.com/483778/samsung-shows-how-big-it-iot-aas-is/
http://telecoms.com/483778/samsung-shows-how-big-it-iot-aas-is/#commentsTue, 01 Aug 2017 08:49:33 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483778Samsung has launched its latest assault on the world of IoT, launching a brokering service for hardware manufacturers and service providers on its Artik IoT platform.

It’s a trend which we are likely to see of more and more as the digital economy takes hold, but Samsung has started early with its own services model. It’s a relatively simple idea, but essentially creates a new aaS. Artik Monetization will essentially act an online marketplace, connecting all various different aspects of the ecosystem in one place.

The service enables device manufacturers and solution providers to collect revenue from the interactions between devices and services. And Samsung will only take a small cut of the revenues, it’s only fair of course.

“Samsung is committed to growing the IoT data economy,” said James Stansberry, Global Head of Artik at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung Artik Cloud Monetization uniquely positions us to help device manufacturers find new ways to make money from IoT and enable more applications for their customers.

“This is part of our long-term strategy to facilitate the development of secure IoT products and services, promote wide-scale interoperability, and create a platform and business model for an entire IoT ecosystem to thrive. Like the mobile phone industry, IoT will be driven by open systems, interoperability and support from innovative applications.”

With the introduction of such platforms to manage cloud business models such as IoT, there will always be services business model as well. In the digital economy, simplicity and speed are traits which every buyer wants. No-one has time to research all the different options, think of websites such as Skyscanner or Expedia, they collect all the information and present it in a simple manner for the user. Why not do the same for IoT?

It could be a very useful business model for Samsung, as there are huge complications for hardware vendors to monetize IoT as hosting applications or creating an ecosystem of third parties is a costly exercise. For a company which is big enough and already has such an ecosystem, creating such a platform could be an interesting little earner. Samsung could be onto a winner.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483778/samsung-shows-how-big-it-iot-aas-is/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/05/Syniverse-mobile-marketplace.jpgSamsung semiconductor sales smashes second quarterhttp://telecoms.com/483694/samsung-semiconductor-sales-smashes-second-quarter/
http://telecoms.com/483694/samsung-semiconductor-sales-smashes-second-quarter/#commentsThu, 27 Jul 2017 09:40:16 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483694The Samsung consumer business might have gone down in a ball of flames last year, but 2017 is proving to be a different type of game as the semiconductor business unit reports impressive growth.

Looking more specifically at the trouble child of the Samsung family, it would appear the memories of consumers are relatively short-lived, as the pyromaniac tendencies of the mobile division have been forgotten. The IT & Mobile Communications unit, continued to recover from the flaming disaster of the Galaxy Note7 with 13% growth across the quarter. The IT & Mobile division accounted for roughly 49% of total revenues for the quarter at just over KRW 30 trillion.

While this would be deemed a successful quarter for a business which almost faced disaster, the future certainly looks brighter for the mobile team. Operating profit for the quarter remained relatively steady year-on-year at just over KRW 4 trillion, however it doubled quarter-on-quarter. Quarter-on-quarter, the number of premium smartphones increased significantly, though total sales remained steady as sales of mid- to low-end products decreased.

The team has not specifically detailed whether this is an intentional business strategy, though it does sound remarkably similar to the Apple model. Apple has concentrated on the premium market, focusing more on profitability than overall sales (though it does sell an extraordinarily high number of units), and therefore collects the lions’ share of profits which is supposed to be divvied out another the handset manufacturers.

Samsung has stated that it would continue its mid- and low-end models for the emerging markets, though if it is able to maintain total number of sales, but shift a higher proportion onto the premium models in the established markets, it wouldn’t be a bad move. Apple has proved the model can work, and while Samsung does not have the cult-like following of iLifers, it has demonstrated to have a resilient (and fireproof) set of admirers. It’s a good sign.

Looking at the semiconductor business, the increase in revenue is certainly impressive, however operating profits at KRW 8.03 trillion deserves another round of applause. This is 57% of the total profits for the quarter.

The memory business saw high-demand for high-density server DRAM and SDD, though mobile saw the predictable seasonal demand weaken. Another area which has worked out well for the team is the limited supply conditions pushing up unit prices. Now we are of course not cynical, but fancy that working out well for Samsung.

On the NAND side of things, the team has stated earnings were driven by expanded sales of value-added products, such as mobile products over 64GB, datacentre NVMe SSD and enterprise SSD. This is an area which the team predicts will continue to be a strong performer over the second half of the year, with various flagship smartphone launches and expansion of new datacentres. It also predicts the restricted supply conditions will remain, which is bound to help profitability over the second half. Fancy that.

Overall, it has proved to be a very successful quarter for the business. Who would have thought that after a few months of disaster and dismay in 2016.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483694/samsung-semiconductor-sales-smashes-second-quarter/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/11/Loads-of-money-investment-cash.jpgArqiva and Samsung kick of Fixed Wireless Access trialhttp://telecoms.com/483647/arqiva-and-samsung-kick-of-fixed-wireless-access-trial/
http://telecoms.com/483647/arqiva-and-samsung-kick-of-fixed-wireless-access-trial/#commentsTue, 25 Jul 2017 11:42:32 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483647Arqiva and Samsung has kicked off what the pair claim is the first field trial of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technology in the UK.

The primary objective of the test is to demonstrate the stability of the FWA service, and its potential as a fast-to-market and cost-effective alternative to fibre for connectivity to homes and businesses. The pair has said the system has established a stable two-way mmWave link with downlink speeds of around 1 Gbps at the CPE, despite travelling a link distance of several hundred meters.

“One of the most exciting prospects that 5G is expected to bring to the table is the exploration of powerful new use cases outside of traditional smart device mobile connectivity,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Head of the Next Generation Communications Business Team at Samsung Electronics and owner of one of the longest jobs titles we’ve come across.

“Our trial efforts with Arqiva give us the chance to demonstrate this first hand, and we view this demonstration as a door-opener for new and compelling connected service opportunities in the UK, Europe and worldwide”

A Radio Access Unit, located on the rooftop of Arqiva’s London office, wirelessly links to a CPE, located by a window inside Arqiva’s nearby headquarters. Samsung’s system makes use of beam-forming technology and high-frequency mmWave spectrum to provide high bandwidth connectivity. The compact access unit can be mounted on lampposts or similar street furniture to provide gigabit-per-second service to neighbourhoods and businesses alike, the pair claim. The final component is Samsung’s virtualized core which runs on Arqiva’s data centre servers.

“We’ve seen a great level of response so far from our entire customer base, including leading mobile operators, fixed broadband providers, broadcasters and media companies,” said Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO of Arqiva. “This trial will be particularly interesting for this audience as it looks to a future of ubiquitous UHD, and the file sizes that go with it.”

The trial will run over the next four months, and consists of a series of six stations. Part of the trial will include examples of 5G use cases, demonstrations of 4K UHD and Virtual Reality content streaming.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483647/arqiva-and-samsung-kick-of-fixed-wireless-access-trial/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/08/IoT-Smart-City-Internet-of-Things.jpgTSB eyes up the future of mobile banking with iris authenticationhttp://telecoms.com/483567/tsb-eyes-up-the-future-of-mobile-banking-with-iris-authentication/
http://telecoms.com/483567/tsb-eyes-up-the-future-of-mobile-banking-with-iris-authentication/#commentsThu, 20 Jul 2017 11:52:08 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483567British bank TSB has made a bold step forward by introducing iris recognition to its mobile banking app as an authentication feature.

From September, customers with the latest Samsung Galaxy S8 will be able to access their account by simply looking at their phone. The software, which will remove the need for passwords or memorable questions, was added as a feature to the latest model earlier this year, alongside face recognition and fingerprint scanning capabilities.

“Iris recognition allows you to unlock your TSB mobile app with a simple glance, meaning all of those IDs, passwords and memorable information become a thing of the past,” said Carlos Abarca, TSB’s Chief Information Officer.

“As well as a more customer-friendly approach to identification, iris recognition is also the most secure method of authentication available today. We want our mobile app customers to continue to have a fast, easy-to-use experience; iris recognition delivers that and, when combined with our other security measures, an unparalleled level of cyber security.”

And while the technology world might get excited about such developments, reaction from the general public demonstrates there might be a bit of friction. As you can see from the tweets below, there are reservations over the security of such a feature.

Realistically, no security features are 100% secure and should not be sold as such. If someone really wants to, they will be able to coerce a password out of a customer, but there will always be people who are intimidated by new ideas. Your correspondents father, for instance, still does not trust contactless payments on London Underground. What is worth noting is that this is an opt-in feature. Should the customer not want to use it, it is easily disabled.

Perhaps another reason for the friction is the claim from German hacking group the Chaos Computer Club, which has said it was able to trick Samsung’s iris scanner with a photo used to make a dummy eye. This is certainly a story which would feed the fear of new ideas, but what is worth noting is the definition which would be needed in the photo would have to be incredibly high.

This iris scanner looks for 266 unique characteristics in an individual’s eye, whereas finger prints only look for 40. It isn’t incredible plausible to get a photograph that detailed without the individual realising what you are doing.

Biometrics have been a talking point in the industry for what seems like decades, though progress has always been faltering. There have been a few breakthroughs in recent years, facial recognition in airports is a positive step forward, though the smartphone could be the catalyst which takes biometrics into the realms of reality. It does sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the power of such devices and the cloud should be able to tackle the challenges.

One of the final barriers will be public awareness; if the level of education in the general public is not high enough, adoption will never happen. Contactless payments were met with a similar level of scepticism, but the industry conquered that hurdle. Technophobes will always be around, but biometrics has finally made its first step towards reaching its full potential.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483567/tsb-eyes-up-the-future-of-mobile-banking-with-iris-authentication/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/07/Iris-Scanner.jpgTelecoms news you may have missedhttp://telecoms.com/483216/telecoms-news-you-may-have-missed/
http://telecoms.com/483216/telecoms-news-you-may-have-missed/#commentsMon, 10 Jul 2017 09:30:07 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=483216With days getting hotter, the pubs becoming more appealing and summer holidays last approaching, most would forgive you for missing a few of the telecoms stories from last week. We’ve got your back.

Samsung and Alibaba eye smart home euphoria

Two of Asia’s largest technology brands are reportedly on the hunt to cash in on the fast-growing excitement around the smart home, with the launch of AI-powered smart speakers.

Alibaba has officially launched Tmall Genie, a voice-controlled device play music, run third-party apps and buy goods from the Chinese retail giant’s online stores. For the moment, it only understands Mandarin, though it should hardly be considered unusual for Chinese brands to target the Chinese market first and foremost. The product is only available in Beta for a limited number of customers currently, though the team has stated it will also feature Alipay, which is pretty much its own various of PayPal.

Over in Korea, the Korea Herald has reported Samsung is in the final stages of developing its own smart speaker which would be powered by its own AI offering Bixby, though there have been delays to the English-version due to data issues.

The issue here is the amount of data which the company has access to in English. Teaching such a machine to comprehensively understand a language takes a huge amount of data, and we’re slightly surprised it caught the technology giant unaware. The challenge here is response time and accuracy. We’re quite fussy apparently, therefore the devices accuracy would have to be above 95% to meet our tolerance threshold.

Despite the set-back, the team does have some pretty lofty ambitions. The target here is to have Bixby powering 7.5 billion intelligent devices by the end of 2021. It might not have the technology to dominate the industry just yet, but it might just have the reputation as a consumer electronics giant to make such a claim a reality.

Belgium regulators look to open up broadband market

Regulators in Belgium have put down their waffles and decided to have a crack at increasing competition in its broadband market after an investigation found Proximus, Telenet, VOO and Coditel have too much influence in the wholesale space.

Each of the players have created a position of dominance in certain regions of the country, though regulators are seemingly concerned the current set-up would create a series of monopolies. The new rules would force the network owners into a fairer pricing system, allowing for additional bundles to be offered to customers, and a greater level of competition throughout the country.

“Several options have been examined for fibre access, ranging from ‘passive’ access, enabling the alternative operator to install his own equipment, to ‘active’ access, if the passive access option is technically or economically impossible. Several regulatory adaptations have also been proposed to improve the competition environment of broadband services for businesses,” the report reads.

Chinese smartphones on the up

Despite the worldwide smartphone market on a bit of a slowdown, HTC and Xiaomi have claimed the last couple of months have been pretty rosy for their devices business units.

Xiaomi SVP Wang Xiang tweeted the smartphone division had returned to growth after shipping a ‘record high’ 23.16 million units across the second quarter of 2017. This number is up roughly 70% from the first quarter, though as Xiaomi stopped releasing smartphone numbers in 2016, that’s as much info as we can give for the moment.

The turnaround itself has been credited to the R&D department, as the team aimed to create an ‘aspirational brand’ as opposed to one which has been associated with ‘value for money’. Over the course of 2017, the team hope to ship 100 million units.

HTC is also having a good time of it, after it claimed revenues in June were the highest since December. Revenues across the month increased 8% year-on-year to roughly $225.2 million, with its new flagship HTC U11 as the main driver. It’s a long-way back to the glory days where HTC’s ruled the world, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

]]>http://telecoms.com/483216/telecoms-news-you-may-have-missed/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/09/Shocked-Face.jpgSamsung flexes its IoT muscles with Artik and Tizenhttp://telecoms.com/482109/samsung-flexes-its-iot-muscles-with-artik-and-tizen/
http://telecoms.com/482109/samsung-flexes-its-iot-muscles-with-artik-and-tizen/#commentsWed, 17 May 2017 12:24:04 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=482109At its recent developer conference Samsung was keen to talk up its Artik IoT platform and insisted unfashionable OS Tizen has a significant part to play.

ARTIK – Samsung’s IoT platform – was launched two years ago but we haven’t heard much about it since. Now the company seems to be trying to reboot the concept via the time-honoured ‘new and improved’ marketing method. Among the inevitable claims of new end-to-end capabilities is a new module (pictured), which is effectively a mini computer complete with processor, memory and connectivity, that brings a lot of this new-and-improved goodness to IoT devices.

“A smart, powerful IoT platform is key to fostering an interoperable, and most importantly, secure ecosystem,” said James Stansberry, U.S. Head of Artik at Samsung Electronics. “That is why we developed the Samsung Artik Smart IoT platform from the ground up with end-to-end security, and why we continue to integrate new security enhancements across hardware, software, cloud and communications.

“Leveraging Samsung Artik is a value add for our customers,” said Youngsoo Do, SVP of the Digital Control Group at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung Artik is instrumental to Samsung in building secure IoT products, and getting to market faster. The ability to connect to other smart devices also enables new use cases, and is helping us realize our vision of making all Samsung products IoT-enabled.”

Also at the developer conference, which was themed ‘Ready To Connect, Get Involved!’ for some reason, Samsung extolled the virtues of the Tizen 4.0 platform. For those who have understandably forgotten Tizen was Samsung’s attempt to create an alternative Linux-based mobile OS that it installed on some phones a few years ago in a bid to make itself less dependent on Android. The plan was foiled when it became clear that there was no reason for anyone to buy a Tizen phone instead of an Android one.

So Samsung decided to repurpose the platform as the OS for other smart devices categories not currently dominated by Android, including smart TVs and smart watches. And now Tizen 4.0 brings a whole bunch of broader IoT device capability, according to Samsung, as illustrated by the obligatory supercilious corporate video below.

“Since launching, Tizen has become the OS for nearly all of Samsung’s products, and with its record of sales growth, proven itself as the most successful Linux-based embedded OS in the world,” said Hyogun Lee, EVP of the Visual Display Business at Samsung and Chair of the Tizen Technical Steering Group. “Among open collaborations, and as we enter the IoT era, we expect Tizen will open new opportunities for the future of IoT.”

Lastly Samsung says it has already sold 5 million units of the new Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone despite it only having been available to buy globally for less than a month. It seems to be on course to sell 20 million in this quarter and possibly 60 million by the end of the year. If that happens it will have sold more than the most popular models of 2016.

]]>http://telecoms.com/482109/samsung-flexes-its-iot-muscles-with-artik-and-tizen/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/05/Samsung-Artik-module.jpgMobile money could make Africa the new bosshttp://telecoms.com/482088/mobile-money-could-make-africa-the-new-boss/
http://telecoms.com/482088/mobile-money-could-make-africa-the-new-boss/#commentsWed, 17 May 2017 10:18:55 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=482088Samsung Pay has officially launched in the UK, continuing the evolution of the digital economy, but does this technology have the potential to disrupt the global pecking order?

In the last couple of weeks there have been numerous announcements which is slowly moving cash into the redundancy line. Whether it is chip and pin become more universally accepted or using a selfie to authorise payments, the concept of paying something with physical objects is slowly becoming a thing of the past. The cheque has been almost eradicated from the UK, how long until the £5 note succumbs to the same fate?

“Following the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ earlier this year, we are thrilled to be introducing another innovative service to our latest flagship devices, reinforcing our commitment to making people’s lives easier,” said Conor Pierce, VP of the IT & Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland. “We hope the UK launch of Samsung Pay will transform the way our customers pay for day-to-day items, giving consumers a safer, smarter mobile wallet.”

The current ecosystem includes many of the expected names including Mastercard and Visa, as well as cards issued by MBNA , Nationwide and Santander, with more in the pipeline. Users will be able to pay as you go on London buses, the underground, Trams, TfL Rail, the Emirates Air Line (if anyone actually uses it), the River Bus and most National Rail services in London. They will also be able to upload their loyalty cards at selected merchants across the UK, to accumulate and redeem points.

Samsung might be late to the party in the UK, but it is at least arriving before the idea moves into the mainstream. Mobile payments are still in their infancy, but the trend is catching on fast. That said, the fact that it is still in its early days has the potential to disrupt the global hierarchy in the technology world. Perhaps we are reaching an inflection point in certain parts of the sector, as the Western world is playing catch up in terms of deployment with the developing nations.

It’s a simple matter of necessity or convenience. Mobile money may be seen as a perk in the UK, playing to the impatient desires of the consumer, but for certain countries in Africa, mobile money is a necessity due to the lack of availability of traditional banking institutions. Across the continent, roughly 25% have bank accounts, which drops to as low as 14% when looking specifically as West Africa. Mobile money isn’t a convenience here, it is a necessity.

Mobile payments have been very successful across the continent, in particular in Kenya, where the M-PESA money transfer and payment system developed by Safaricom in 2007 now serves over 17 million people. It’s estimate that as much as 22% of the population in East Africa uses mobile payments (statistics are from late 2015), compared to 3% in OECD countries. Admittedly these numbers are slightly dated, however Africa is still miles ahead of the Western nations 18 months later.

So the Western world has a lot of catching up to do, but are we mature enough to learn from the African nations? The export of services and experience has primarily gone one direction in recent years when it comes to developing telco infrastructure or implementing digital solutions. The Western societies have been teaching the African nations, but when it comes to mobile money, the experience should be flowing the other direction.

African engineers have the experience of developing the systems to facilitate the mobile money evolution, as well as the business models to support them. The UK is just about catching on, and in the US signing a credit card receipt is still a thing! There is no question that the student has now become the master, but will the Western nations be able to accept this disruption to the status quo? Will a perceived arrogance and superiority lead to ignorance? Are Western business mature enough to accept they are no longer the best and brightest?

When the tables are turned like this, it can be difficult to accept the new hierarchy, and culturally it might be a shock to the system for some. But one thing which is clear is that the African nations are the bosses of the mobile money world. If the Western nations cannot accept this, there is a risk of severe complications when there really doesn’t need to be.

Back in January, the FTC filed a complaint accusing Qualcomm of using its dominant position in the market to reduce the threat of competition. More specifically, Qualcomm is being accused of elevating fees for its licenses to rival baseband processor makers, thus putting them at a competitive disadvantage. Qualcomm has denied the charges, and filed its own brief to have the case dismissed, though Intel and Samsung’s meddling certainly won’t help matters for the chipmaker.

“Because the FTC’s attempt to shed light on Qualcomm’s anticompetitive practices is of great importance to the industry as a whole, several other companies and trade associations also have filed briefs supporting the FTC,” Intel said on its blog.

“Intel’s brief, in particular, illuminates the adverse impact that Qualcomm’s conduct is having on competition and innovation, and explains how that conduct violates the antitrust laws in several different ways.”

For Intel, it the move might be an attempt to kick one of its biggest competitors while it is down. Intel may have had a tough time trying to capitalize on the mobile market (which Qualcomm dominates), however as the IoT battle warms up, anything which would prove a distraction for competitors certainly works in the favour of Intel.

Samsung is different matter. Yes, it does have its own semiconductor business which competes with Qualcomm, but the mobile unit would be considered a major customer of the company. Considering Apple has already decided to sour the relationship between the two, the last thing Qualcomm needs is another customer kicking up a fuss.

“Despite having requested a license from Qualcomm, Samsung cannot sell licensed Exynos chipsets to non-Samsung entities because Qualcomm has refused to license Samsung to make and sell licensed chipsets.”

Essentially, Samsung is claiming its own in-house technology is being held back by Qualcomm because it refuses to license its technology. Samsung is unable to sell the chipsets to any non-Samsung customers currently due to the unwillingness of Qualcomm to co-operate.

It would also be worth noting that Qualcomm has not defended its position yet, so take any Samsung claims with a pinch of salt until it has had a chance to voice its own views on the matter.

]]>http://telecoms.com/482059/samsung-and-intel-pounce-on-battle-weary-qualcomm/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/10/cloud-fight.jpgThe results are in… Intel and Samsung are bossing ithttp://telecoms.com/482046/the-results-are-in-intel-and-samsung-are-bossing-it/
http://telecoms.com/482046/the-results-are-in-intel-and-samsung-are-bossing-it/#commentsMon, 15 May 2017 10:28:31 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=482046Revenues in the worldwide semiconductor market have taken a 2.6% step upwards, with Intel and Samsung stretching their lead at the top of the table.

According to Gartner, total revenues for the segment increased to $343.5 billion over the course of 2016, with Intel taking a 15.7% slice of the market share, and Samsung accounting for 11.7%. The pair grew by 4.6% and 5.9% respectively, but the news was not as positive for Qualcomm, which saw its own revenues decline by 4.1%. This is a worrying sign, but the ongoing dispute with Apple has the potential to cause much more damage in the long-term.

“The semiconductor industry rebounded in 2016, with a weak start to the year, characterized by inventory correction, giving way to strengthening demand and an improving pricing environment in the second half,” said James Hines Research Director at Gartner.

The largest mover in the market was Broadcom, which jumped up 12 places to fifth in the worldwide market share rankings, though this was primarily due to acquisitions. Avago Technologies acquired Broadcom Corp before rebranding to Broadcom Ltd. The new organization saw an increase of 191% year-on-year, now accounting for 3.8% of the global market share.

“The combined revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors increased by 10.5% during 2016 and accounted for a 74.9% share, outperforming the rest of the market, which saw a 15.6% revenue decline,” said Hines.

“However, these results are skewed by the large amount of M&A activity during 2015 and 2016. If we adjust for this M&A activity by adding the revenue of each acquired company to the revenue of the acquirer for both 2015 and 2016 where necessary, then the top 25 vendors would have experienced a 1.9% revenue increase, and the rest of the market would have increased by 4.6%.”

While Intel has been facing a tough time in recent years in a search to reinvent itself, not many will complain about 4.6% growth across the year. Its traditional stomping ground will continue to be a cash generator, but a couple of big bets on the autonomous vehicles race could hold some fortunes for the team.

It certainly is a sensible bet; the complexities of a self-driving and self-aware car, which is being tasked in making its own decisions in a fraction of a second, the requirements from companies like Intel and Samsung will be high.

“Just as you need different clubs to get you through 18 holes of golf, you need different kinds of processors to ‘drive’ an autonomous car,” said Kathy Winter, GM of the Automated Driving Solutions Division at Intel.

“Take sensors as an example. Each type of sensor generates a very different kind of data: cameras generate pixels, LIDAR generates point clouds and RADAR generates analogue waveforms. All of these data types need to be processed differently. And if you were developing an autonomous car brain, you would choose very specialized tools perfectly suited to each data type rather than a single gaming processor for all of it.”

]]>http://telecoms.com/482046/the-results-are-in-intel-and-samsung-are-bossing-it/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/10/IoT-chips.jpgVerizon, Cisco and Samsung claim first multi-vendor 5G trialhttp://telecoms.com/481973/verizon-cisco-and-samsung-claim-first-multi-vendor-5g-trial/
http://telecoms.com/481973/verizon-cisco-and-samsung-claim-first-multi-vendor-5g-trial/#commentsWed, 10 May 2017 16:20:13 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=481973Verizon was in danger of missing out on the latest flood of US 5G announcements so it called in its mates at Cisco and Samsung to create some hot next-gen action.

Specifically this took the form of deploying what they claim is ‘the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field,’ which took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The deployment is the first product of a 5G vow made by Verizon back in February, which didn’t mention Cisco at the time.

Cisco’s contribution included a 5G virtualized packet core, while Samsung threw its 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers into the mix. The trial was based on Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum specification and focused on network vendor interoperability tests (NVIOT), including demonstrating seamless interworking between core network, radio edge and user devices. This is pretty important stuff at interoperability is one of the main concerns around network virtualization and the trail claimed to showcase the flexibility and potential of 5G NFV.

“Our collaboration with Samsung and Verizon for the first of many 5G trials, marks an important industry milestone for interoperability and diversified service offerings,” said Yvette Kanouff, GM of the Service Provider Business at Cisco. “We are also making history on the path towards true Network Function Virtualization, demonstrating it for the first time in a 5G environment.”

“We’re very excited about the possibilities this opens up in terms of network architectures, particularly in view of 5G’s aim to connect new industries and empower unique service scenarios,” said Woojune Kim, Head of Next Generation Strategy at Samsung Electronics. “A shift towards Network Function Virtualization creates new opportunities in the industry value chain, enabling collaboration with pioneering industry leaders to bring greater value to consumers and businesses.”

All four major US operators have now raised the intensity of their 5G activities and aspirations in the past week or so and currently that is the place, rather than Europe of the Far East, that seems to be most active in this space. Any significant breakthrough in interoperability, regardless of its origin, will be welcomed by telecoms players worldwide.

]]>http://telecoms.com/481973/verizon-cisco-and-samsung-claim-first-multi-vendor-5g-trial/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/road-to-5g.jpgSamsung gets L-plates to test out self-driving car solutionshttp://telecoms.com/481805/samsung-gets-l-plates-to-test-out-self-driving-car-solutions/
http://telecoms.com/481805/samsung-gets-l-plates-to-test-out-self-driving-car-solutions/#commentsWed, 03 May 2017 16:06:05 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=481805Samsung has notched a win in the race to the self-driving car as the South Korean government has given the company permission to test its solutions on the road.

Ambitions for the company to enter into this lucrative arena are hardly new, pretty much every tech company wants to play with self-driving cars, but this certainly is a milestone. Testing solutions on test tracks is a strong start for any challenger, but it is hardly going to impress the car manufacturers in the long-run.

The car itself will be a Hyundai customized with Samsung’s own gear, though what this gear is specifically is unknown for the moment. According to the Korea Herald, Samsung is aiming to develop sensors and computer modules backed by artificial intelligence and the deep-learning technologies.

Samsung holding ambitions to supply sensors and processors to the industry is hardly a surprise, however a strong move into the software side of things may be more of an eyebrow raiser. Samsung is hardly known as a heavy weight in the world of software, especially considering it will be pitting itself against some more experienced players.

Perhaps this is more of an indication of how the self-driving car space will go. Simply offering one component of the overall project might not be enough, as several companies are gearing themselves up to offer complete solutions. Intel is a prime example, as coupled with its traditional portfolio, the recent acquisition of Mobileye adds sensors to the proposition, while subsidiary Wind River offers embedded software for intelligent connected systems.

Samsung might have a promising start in its entry to the world of self-driving cars, however it will still have to convince a few people of its software pedigree if the one-stop-shop is the end goal.

]]>http://telecoms.com/481805/samsung-gets-l-plates-to-test-out-self-driving-car-solutions/feed/0http://telecoms.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/05/Learner.jpgQ1 2017 smartphone market – Chinese vendors to the forehttp://telecoms.com/481799/q1-2017-smartphone-market-chinese-vendors-to-the-fore/
http://telecoms.com/481799/q1-2017-smartphone-market-chinese-vendors-to-the-fore/#commentsWed, 03 May 2017 13:16:52 +0000http://telecoms.com/?p=481799The Q1 2017 global smartphone shipment numbers are out and they show solid growth with nearly all coming from Chinese vendors, largely from their domestic market.

As a result the two big players – Samsung and Apple – continue to see stagnation in their shipments numbers. This is probably as good as Samsung could have hoped for given the Note7 disaster and it probably resorted to heavy discounting of other devices to keep the numbers up. Apple continues to struggle to match its 2015 highs, with intense competition in China from the likes of Oppo and Vivi probably the main reason.

LG overtook Xiaomi for the first time in a couple of years, reflecting its insulation from the Chinese market as well as solid products across the price tiers. Samsung is likely to put in a stronger performance from Q2 onwards thanks to the well-regarded Galaxy S8, but Apple is likely to continue to decline, putting extra pressure on its big Autumn launch.

Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Oppo shipped a healthy 27.6 million smartphones and maintained fourth position with a record 8 percent global marketshare in Q1 2017,” said Linda Sui of analysts Strategy Analytics. “Oppo grew 78 percent annually in the quarter, outperforming all its major rivals. Oppo is now just two percentage points of marketshare behind Huawei and closing in fast. If current trends continue, Oppo could soon be battling Huawei for third position in the global smartphone market.

“Vivo held fifth place, capturing a record 6 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q1 2017, leaping from 4 percent a year ago. Vivo’s range of Android models, such as the V3 and X7, are proving wildly popular in China, taking share from rivals such as Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple. Meanwhile, LG returned to 6th place with 4 percent global smartphone share, as it performed well in North America and leapt ahead of ZTE, Xiaomi and others.”

The $300-$399 average selling price band was the main growth driver according to research firm Counterpoint, with Oppo and Vivo especially strong in that area. It’s increasingly possible to get 90% of the functionality of a flagship Android phone for a fraction of the price and that is what continues to drive shipment growth.